Primary pupils 7 in Rothesay Primary have been learning about the late, internationally-acclaimed artist, George Wyllie, whose often humorous works included The Paper Boat and The Straw Locomotive. We have been finding out about his life, his achievements and today we created mini replicas of his ‘paper boat’ which started out in Govan, Glasgow and went onto become an exhibit in New York, USA, in 1990.
Their boats will be part of an exhibition in the Mitchell Library, Glasgow, opening this Thursday called “George Wyllie Retrospective: In Pursuit of the Question Mark”. A selection of these boats will also be released from the Riverside Museum on Hogmanay in celebration of his life.
I was lucky enough to have George Wylie and his wife visit my school on Islay in the early 90s. I learned more about creativity that afternoon than I had in the rest of my life. He opened my eyes to how I should really be teaching art and I’ve followed his guidance ever since. A wonderful man – the children were adding to a huge fabric banner that was going on display in Glasgow. I was horrified that he told them they could paint / print anything they wanted – the theme was island life. We ended up with the children printing with their feet and then his wife washed the children’s feet in the kitchen sink…totally amazing. The children had a wonderful free time, being creative, having fun, thinking up wonderful ideas. Truly brilliant and an experience that I’ll never forget.